Faculty

Learn from Industry Veterans

O

ur faculty are industry veterans that have been celebrated with awards, including Emmys. They have also worked with major studios like Pixar, Dreamworks and Disney. Now, they are bringing real-world experience to the classroom.

Roger Borelli- Modeling Instructor

Roger Borelli has over 25 years’ experience in the Motion Picture Industry. He started in Makeup Effects in 1987 and worked with Stan Winston and Rick Baker, and while at Rick’s he worked on 2 films that won the Academy Award for Best Makeup (The Nutty Professor and Men in Black). Roger left Makeup Effects and went into the CG/Digital Sculpting world. Roger has experience from many top studios doing CG for films, CG Movies, CG TV Series, Commercials, and Games, that include Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, Digital Domain, IMAGI and Microsoft.

Mike Jagodzinski

Mike has over 5 years of professional experience as a 3D artist. He specializes in all aspects of hard-surface objects and organic modeling, including a mastery of rendering and sculpting techniques. He is the author/instructor of the Getting Started with Mari tutorial series, as well as an ongoing member of The Foundry’s beta testing teams.

Matt Killian- Animation Instructor

Matt Killian is an award winning artist and director boasting 15 years of diverse experience in live action, visual effects, and feature animation. An animator by trade, Matt has traversed the professional landscape at such world renowned studios as Sony Pictures Imageworks, and Digital Domain. Currently the animation instructor at the Digital Animation and Visual Effect School at Universal Orlando, Matt also remains a working professional in the industry, providing his students with a unique and invaluable perspective.

Jeff Cavitt – Game Instructor

Jeff has over 10 years of experience as a 3D artist. After working on a number of projects following graduation, Jeff next established himself as an environment artist at Terminal Reality, where he worked on AMC’s The Walking Dead for PlayStation, Kinect: Star Wars, and Ghostbusters: The Video Game, to name a few.

Daniel L Smith- VFX Instructor

Daniel L Smith is an award winning teacher and vfx supervisor with over 20 years of experience. His compositing film credits include Harry Potter, Judge Dredd, and SpyKids 3D. He is also an expert on stereography and an award winning director for his short films. Daniel has designed all aspects of the stereoscopic experience for many special venue films and worked on several ground breaking projects for Busch Gardens and Radio City Music Hall. An enthusiastic teacher that pushes for strong, but effective strategies that brings shots to completion. Daniel has personally trained hundreds of students that now have successful careers in the industry.

Tom Bremer- Production Instructor

Tom Bremer started his artistic career more than 10 years ago as a hobby, and quickly realized his potential. After moving to Los Angeles in 2007, he has worked with many studios including Rhythm and Hues, Disney, Motion Theory, and Zoic Studios, where, for his work on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, won a prime time Emmy award for outstanding visual effects. He has also won multiple Telly awards for his work throughout the years.

James Arndt – Production Instructor

James began his career in the industry working for the United States Marine Corps as a combat illustrator where he produced designs such as signage, banners, posters, and web sites. After his five year contract ended with the military, he became a graphic artist for L&R Publications designing the layout of magazine advertisements. For the past 7 years, James has worked at various studios as a 3D Artist,specializing in environments, motion graphics, and animation.

Aaron Juntunen- Animation Instructor

Aaron Juntunen started his career in Hollywood as a 3d generalist with a focus on character animation where he worked with many studios such as Shade VFX, Amalgamated Pixels, and Rhythm and Hues. While in LA he has worked on a wide variety of projects that include commercials, special venue shows, TV shows, and movies. Aaron later made the transition from VFX animation to video game animation by moving to Beijing, China where he became animation director for Mindwalk Studios. While there he was able to work on titles such as: Dead Space 2, Dead Space 3, Family Guy Online, Sims 4, and Elder Scrolls Online.

Anthony Solitario- Associate Instructor

Associate Instructor Anthony Solitario has worked on a variety of projects ranging from military simulation to building projection, as well as creating assets for movies. Originally from Massachusetts, he moved to Florida in 2009 to pursue a career in visual effects and 3d modeling. He is proficient in 3d modeling and sculpting in a variety of programs and is experienced with 3d printing.

Dan Greenfield – Game Instructor

Dan started his career as a graphic designer, before attending Full Sail University. Following graduation, he was a mentor and teacher of 3D fundamentals at Full Sail. Most recently he was a 2D/3D graphic artist and weapons specialist at Cole Engineering Services, Inc.